Pros Kicking Up Sand at Separate Beaches

Some of the world’s best beach volleyball players will display their talents this weekend for local spectators, but the fans might just have to do a little legwork to see both the top men’s and women’s teams.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals U.S. Open men’s tournament is being held at Seal Beach, with the main draw beginning today at 9 a.m. The talent-laden field includes Olympians Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego of Brazil and Americans Eric Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton in addition to the AVP’s top-ranked teams.

Two miles up the coast, the women’s Beach Volleyball America tour stop is in Long Beach, also beginning at 9 a.m. today. Their field is headed by U.S. Olympians Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan of Tarzana.

“I think it’s cool to have the best beach volleyball players all in one concentrated area,” AVP President Bill Berger said. “Having the tournaments so close together is not a distraction for us and it is not a conflict.”

Charlie Jackson, the BVA’s chief executive officer, said ideally he would not want his tour to compete head-to-head with the AVP, in such close proximity and on the same weekend. However, the tours did share a venue at Hermosa Beach for tournaments June 9-11.

“It would be nicer if there were more events together like we had at Hermosa,” AVP veteran Lee LeGrande said.

LeGrande’s girlfriend of 2 1/2 years is Rachel Wacholder, a former Laguna Beach High standout who is in her first full season of pro beach volleyball.

Although LeGrande and Wacholder will be separated by only a 10-minute drive, LeGrande said they likely won’t see each other play.

“Unless one of us gets upset,” Le Grande said.

Wacholder’s partner Nancy Mason will have a similar problem. Her boyfriend is San Juan Capistrano’s Adam Jewell, another AVP veteran playing this weekend.

“What we had to do,” Jackson said, “was mesh with the international tour, the Olympic qualifying series events and our schedule, so that the women had something nearly every weekend. It doesn’t bother me we have conflicting dates this weekend.

“I don’t really know if we have a different audience, but I do know we have a lot of people who are interested in the women’s tour. I expect a really good crowd this weekend. For our first year, we’ve exceeded my expectations. We’ve had a full house at every one of our events and the players are pleased, we’re pleased, and the fans are pleased.”

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Fans who want to see the finals of both tournaments have a fighting chance Sunday. The BVA final is scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m. just south of Belmont Plaza.

The AVP final is scheduled for approximately 4 p.m. just north of Seal Beach Pier near Main and Ocean.

Notes

The eight AVP teams advancing from Friday’s 40-team qualifier to today’s main draw of the U.S. Open at Seal Beach were: Reid Priddy (Hermosa Beach) and Brandon Taliaferro (San Clemente); Riley Salmon (Houston) and Jake Elliot (Charleston, S.C.); Sean Rosenthal (Hermosa Beach) and Jeff Carlucci (Hermosa Beach); Dave Smith (Santa Monica) and Jon Anselmo (Manhattan Beach); Geoff Pollard (Hermosa Beach) and Peter Tourigny (Manhattan Beach); Rich Lambourne (Tustin) and Jon Braunstein (Newport Beach); Justin Perlstrom (Laguna Beach) and Mike Minier (Irvine); Matt Riley (Santa Barbara) and Kenny Ardouin (Santa Barbara).

The eight BVA teams that survived Friday’s qualifying tournament and advanced to today’s main draw at the Long Beach Open were: San Diego’s Liz Pagano and Hermosa Beach’s Julie Sprague; San Diego’s Angie Kammer and Jennifer Kessy, formerly of Dana Hills High; San Diego’s Deanne Johnson and Karen Helyer; San Diego’s Dianne DeNechochea and Missy Ross; Hawthorne’s Kaili Kimura and Pacific Palisades’ Sarah Schroeder; San Diego’s Barb Birnbaum and Erin Galli; San Diego’s Caren Janc and Barb Nyland; San Juan Capistrano’s Kristi Atkinson and Costa Mesa’s Jenny Griffith.